The Magnus Effect
by ThePandaPopo
Summary: Takes place after the infamous Malec breakup. As Alec struggles to come to terms with their separation, another Warlock barges into his life claiming that Magnus' life is in danger. What does Lucifer want with Magnus? Magnus may have told Alec to stay out of his life, but Alec would do anything to protect his love..even if that means sacrificing himself in the process.


**A/N: This is my first TMI fic. I read the series about 5 years ago and absolutely adored it. My love was recently rekindled by the Shadowhunters TV series and I've since harbored a huge obsession with Malec. This idea has been dancing around my head for a while now and it bothered me that there were no good angsty/adventure Malec fics on ; thus, I decided to take things into my own hands and write my own! I hope it comes out as awesome as it seems in my head…**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or any part of The Mortal Instruments. All rights belong to Cassandra Clare. I am simply borrowing her characters/ideas to spin my own little daydream.**

* * *

Alec could not even begin to count how many times he woke up feeling like absolute shit. When your job consisted of late night excursions hunting demons and occasionally brushing up with death, it wasn't uncommon for shadowhunters to get into scuffles that left them with injuries similar to getting run over by a mack truck with chains on the tires. However, waking up and being physically fine while _still_ feeling like shit was something that Alec could count the number of times on one hand.

Ignoring the pounding in his head – _or was that the door?_ – Alec turned and buried his puffy face into the still damp fabric of his pillow.

Damn it, even the pillow felt wrong. Everything felt wrong. He was so used to the silky soft texture of Magnus' lush pillows that his own lumpy cotton ones seemed rock hard in comparison.

 _Magnus_. The name sent a fresh wave of pain through the shadowhunter and Alec's crystal blue eyes glazed over again with unshed tears. It had been nearly three weeks since Alec and Magnus' breakup and it was fair to say that the eldest Lightwood was not handling it well at all. Clutched in his right hand, Alec flipped open the screen of his phone again for the millionth time since that fateful day hoping that the sparkly warlock would return one of his numerous calls. Yet again, Alec was greeted with nothing but digital numbers on a plain black background.

Jace had taken it upon himself to destroy Alec's previous phone when he saw that the broken hearted boy still had a photo of him and Magnus kissing under the Eiffel tower.

 _"You can't keep reminding yourself of the past, Alec."_ Jace had chided him. _"I know it's hard right now, but trust me, the fewer reminders there are of that rat bastard, the sooner you'll get over him."_

Of course, that had been two weeks ago and Alec was still nowhere close to feeling better; if anything, he felt worse. Magnus' final words to him kept echoing through his head. _"Aku cinta kamu,"_ he had said in their final moment in the abandoned subway station. _"Not that it changes anything,"_ he added, after Alec had mustered up the courage to ask what those final words meant.

How could he have been so stupid? Magnus had always warned him about how manipulative Camille could be. He had always been crystal clear about how she was someone that absolutely no one, under no circumstances, would want to associate with because of how she used and took advantage of people's emotions. And now here Alec was. Crying alone in his drab bedroom back at the institute, all because he didn't have the decency to heed Magnus' warnings or respect his seemingly obsessive need to keep his past hidden.

All Alec had wanted was to just know a little bit about his boyfriend. _Ex now,_ his mind amended. Yes they were happy, but the fact that Magnus knew almost everything about Alec and that Alec couldn't even lie about knowing a little about the warlock made his gut twist and wrench in ways that organs really shouldn't. When Camille had offered bits and pieces of Magnus' past, Alec clung to it like a drowning man to a raft. He wanted to love every part of Magnus – not just the pretty, sparkly, cat eyed hot mess of a man that was capable of turning Alec's heart to liquid mush with just a simple smile.

"Alec? Alec, are you in there?" the pounding on his door ceased momentarily as his sister's voice floated through the door. "Alec, I'm coming in, so you had better have clothes on." Isabelle pushed her way into the dark room and took one look at the lump of blankets that was her brother and sighed.

"Hey," Isabelle said softly, sitting on the bed and reaching over to brush Alec's hair back. "Are you… feeling better?" She winced at how horribly awkward that sounded.

"You don't have to baby me, Isabelle. I'm not an invalid," Alec muttered and sat up. He refused to let his sister see his puffy eyes which would tell her that he had spent another night crying.

Isabelle bit her lip and didn't reply. It wasn't that she was trying to make Alec feel incapable. In fact, she wanted to do the very opposite. The first week that the couple had broken up, Isabelle went through a myriad of emotions ranging from 'let's eat ice cream together on the couch and watch titanic until we both end up a bawling mess,' to 'I'm going to go over there and kick some sparkly warlock ass'. What the female Lightwood was not prepared for was how hurt Alec looked even after two weeks of doing everything in her power to make him smile. She even stopped cooking and ordered his favourite dinner everyday but was only rewarded with Alec taking a few bites and then rushing to the bathroom and violently retching.

Because of his terrible eating schedule, Alec had lost a lot of weight. His once baggy sweaters now engulfed his torso whole and Isabelle swore she could see his bones jutting out where there used to be hard muscle. If anything, Alec's slowly deteriorating state was terrifying Isabelle more than any demon she had ever faced head on. Max's death was still a fresh wound in all their lives and the now youngest Lightwood did not know what she would do if she lost another brother. Isabelle's heart clenched painfully as she settled her hand on her older brother's shoulder and watched as his red rimmed eyes darted briefly to her face and then back down to his fisted hands.

"We got a call about some demon activity down by Central Park," Isabelle began hesitantly. "Jace and Clary are getting geared up downstairs. I just wanted to come by and see if you wanted to join us."

Alec perked up at this news. It would be a welcome distraction from the dark oblivion of his room and it gave him a chance to do something other than wallow.

"You don't have to; it's just a small Ravener's nest. Pretty elementary stuff so if –"

"I'll do it."

Isabelle looked up at her brother in disbelief, "what?" Unfortunately, Alec didn't bother to grace her with an answer as he padded out of bed and began pulling on his shadowhunter gear scattered on the floor around his bed.

"I said I'm coming," Alec raised his eyebrow at his sister, silently teasing her as if she had finally gone off the deep end. "What kind of a shadowhunter would I be if I let my baby sister and reckless brother take all the glory of slaying a nest of Ravener demons?"

Isabelle blinked once more before breaking out into a grin. This was more like the brother she remembered; always making sure his siblings were safe while sneaking in subtle jabs at them. Flicking her hair back as she rose from her seated position on his bed, Isabelle sauntered towards the door and called across her shoulder, "meet in the foyer in five. And it's been a long time since I've been your _baby_ sister; we all know I can whoop your ass whenever I want to."

Alec snorted at this as he strapped on his weapons belt. As the door click shut and Isabelle's staccato footsteps faded into silence, Alec let a ghost of a smile grace his lips for the first time in three weeks.

* * *

"I thought you said this was just a 'small Ravener's nest'. This is not 'small', nor is it a Ravener's nest!" Alec shouted as he shot another arrow and hit a Behemoth right in the throat allowing Jace to leap and dispatch it with multiple swipes of his seraph blades.

"Well if _someone_ had relayed the information better, then maybe we would have been a little bit more prepared," Isabelle hissed back and let her whip fly, simultaneously taking out two Iblis demons. "Seriously Jace, I'm going to kill you when we get back."

"You know, we could argue forever about who said what and when so why don't we just let bygones be bygones?" Jace whirled around and stabbed the only Ravener demon in this nest. "I mean, at least this is better than that time we went to exterminate that nest of Dragon demons right?"

Alec cursed as he let his last arrow fly and reached to his belt to grab his seraph blade. Leaping down from his vantage point at the top of a nearby fountain, Alec quickly killed a lesser demon that had crept up behind Clary. Nodding her thanks at him, Clary turned around and focused once more battling her own opponents.

"While we appreciate the fact that you were kind enough to inform us that the demons we would be dealing with were definitely _not extinct_ , you still have to work on your communication skills," Alec bit out. He was covered head to toe in ichor and the stench was doing nothing for his roiling stomach. Isabelle stood a little to his left and was dispatching demons in a terrifying flurry of whips. If Alec hadn't known for a fact that Isabelle was a master of her weapon, he would have been afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

Jace shrugged and opened his mouth to throw back a snarky reply but Alec didn't hear it. Suddenly the world sounded like it was gurgling- like he was listening to everything while underwater. Tightening his grip on his blade, Alec swung around and crouched into a defensive position. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and he felt the temperature of the air drop several degrees. Suddenly, Alec felt an odd sensation like he was falling even though his feet were planted firmly on the ground. Black smoke swirled around the shadowhunter in a maelstrom and Alec used his left hand to shield his eyes from the strength of the wind.

When the gust died down enough for Alec to open his eyes, his stomach sank when he realized he was no longer in Central Park – he wasn't anywhere specific either – nor were his siblings and Clary anywhere around. Alec was in a place startlingly reminiscent of the dark abyss of his mind. Although there was no light anywhere, Alec had no trouble seeing his hands or any part of his body for that matter. It was if he was the only person who existed in this blackness.

" _My, my. And just what do we have here?"_ A low, raspy voice hissed.

Alec once again raised his weapon defensively and spun in an attempt to locate the direction of the voice. "What are you?" crystal blue eyes scanned the area in front of him and Alec cautiously began making his way forward.

" _I have many names, little Nephilim."_ The voice resonated again and a part of Alec mused that if God had a voice, it would probably have the same surround sound as this demon. " _Most know me as the faithful servant of Lucifer, but I won't bore you with my name seeing as you will soon be dead."_

Alec barely had time to dodge to the right as a huge serrated blade cleaved through the shadows. He barely registered the pain of his shoulder colliding with the ground and summersaulted back into a crouching position. The good news was that now he had a vague idea of how his opponent was armed. The bad news was that Alec was fighting a Greater Demon (yet again) alone and without any backup in the near future.

Seriously, if this is what the universe gave him in his attempts to forget about Magnus, Alec would have to really consider taking up a relatively non-dangerous hobby to pass the time.

Alec heard the whistle of the air being cut before he even saw the sword. Ducking quickly, Alec ran towards the direction of the blade and slashed at the dark smoke. He must have hit something because he heard an angry howl and the next thing he knew, the wind had picked up tremendously and had knocked him flat on his back.

" _Stupid Nephilim. You will pay for that!"_ A tall humanoid looking demon began to materialize in front of Alec. A long reptilian tail swished dangerously behind the demon whose blood red eyes glared down at Alec. Huge webbed wings flared out of its back and Alec could vaguely make out the blood stained armor adorning the huge hulking figure.

All in all, Alec was truly and thoroughly screwed.

Alec felt the strength leave his muscles as he watched the blade descend on his head. Closing his eyes, Alec simply felt exhausted and worn. It was not uncommon for Shadowhunters to die on the field. In fact, it was considered honorable to die in action. However, Alec was basically as far as honorable as a Shadowhunter could get. He was gay, and he was a failure at his job seeing that he had only killed his first demon when he was 18 (in comparison to Jace who had killed his first demon when he had barely entered puberty).

As the blade came closer, Alec couldn't help but want to feel Magnus' warmth just one last time. He way his green gold eyes glittered with blatant happiness when Alec would initiate a hug or the way that his magic felt as he healed him. Or how…

"Move, Nephilim!" a deep voice bellowed and snapped Alec back from his morose final thoughts.

Suddenly, electric green bolts shot forward and intercepted the blade that was about to cleave Alec in two. Gritting his teeth, Alec rolled to the side and brought his arms up to shield himself from the shower of green sparks that ricocheted off the clash.

 _"You!"_ the demon hissed at the figure emerging from the darkness. Recovering from the initial shock, the demon turned to face his new opponent.

If Alec thought Magnus was powerful and intimidating when he was in the midst of battle, he definitely had nothing on this warlock that was approaching them in strong, measured steps.

Large hulking black feathered wings hung off his broad, yet lithe torso which rippled with the tension of battle. He was rather well toned and incredibly tall, even taller than Magnus, with long steel grey hair tied back in a ponytail that fell down to his tapered hips. The warlock held his right hand palm up with green electricity cackling dangerously giving him an even greater overwhelming presence. Unlike Magnus, he was dressed completely in sleek black attire. Alec vaguely registered that even though the warlock was wearing shiny black dress shoes, he made no noise as he walked. In fact, he seemed to almost glide over the ground.

" _Asmund,_ " the demon growled angrily, " _you have interrupted me for the last time! My Master will be pleased when I hand him your severed head."_

Asmund scoffed and addressed Alec. "I knew that the Nephilim were dumb, but not suicidal." His emerald green eyes never left the hissing, spitting demon in front of them.

A part of Alec began to feel irritated at the fact that there was yet another warlock who had saved his life. What was with him and his luck with attracting all sorts of magical beings?

"I have a name, you know." Grabbing his seraph blade that was knocked out of his hand earlier, Alec rose and moved back into a defensive position angling towards the demon. He was ready this time when it lunged at him. Alec parried the blow with a grunt and pushed the blade back, delivering a swipe of his own.

When he jumped back, green bolts followed up his attack and met their mark. The demon let out a pained screech and launched itself into the sky before diving straight at the warlock. Asmund, who watched these actions with barely concealed boredom, flicked a hand lazily and suddenly a bright cage of green electricity enveloped the demon.

"Now, now, Alastor. We wouldn't want you dying prematurely before I have a chance to ask you some questions, now would we?" Asmund hummed genially while examining his fingernails for invisible dirt. "After all, I have spent all this time tracking you down. It would be such a shame if you didn't make it worth my time." The cage pulsed with energy and Alec flinched at the raw display of domination the warlock held over this greater demon without so much as batting an eye.

"First matter of business: I know you need the blood of one graced by the Angel, but why this boy here?" Alec froze as Asmund waited patiently in a lazy stance. The blood of one graced by the Angel? What in Raziel's name did a demon need that for? "I mean, I certainly get that he's a pretty one. But really, you could have gotten that helpless red haired one, or even that blondie if you really wanted to. What makes this boy so special?"

Alec felt his face flush red. Of course the warlock thought he was attractive. He was pretty sure someone up in heaven was having a great laugh at his expense. Maybe it was the way he dressed, Alec thought absently, maybe his holey black sweaters were the equivalent of catnip to warlocks. In which case, Alec swore on the Angel himself that he would purge his closet if he made it out of this alive.

The demon laughed a disgusting gravelly laugh. _"You really don't know? Asmund, you have hidden yourself away from the world for far too long this time."_ Alastor's laugh was cut short when he howled in pain as the cage became slightly smaller.

"Try again," Asmund ordered in a voice that left no room for argument. At least not unless you wanted to meet the grim reaper early.

" _This boy has already been touched by warlock magic,"_ Alastor hissed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"So what?" Asmund drawled, "Many Nephilim have been healed by warlocks before. I don't exactly see you hunting them down." Alec noted that the warlock was beginning to become irritated at how long this interrogation process was taking.

Alastor smirked, _"Can it be? Something that the Great Warlock Asmund does not know? I thought that you would be able to figure that out for yourself at the very least."_

Green eyes flashed dangerously and the cage shrunk even more. Alec could now hear the searing of flesh as the greater demon's great wings began to sizzle from coming into contact with the green current. "You give me too much credit. I'm not as patient as you think I am. I'll give you one more chance to answer my question before I send you back to whatever dimension of hell you came from in the most painful way I've learned in my 1800 years alive."

It was probably the combination of multiple things that made Alec feel as lightheaded and dizzy as he did. The amount of magical energy pouring from Asmund's cage was incredible. A traitorous part of Alec's mind automatically compared it to Magnus' magic and he was sorely disappointed to find that Magnus didn't even hold a candle to this towering warlock. To top it off, Asmund couldn't even find the energy in him to look like the spell was using a little bit of effort. In fact, he looked just about as unbothered as Magnus was when he was summoning everyday mundane items like a cup of coffee.

" _This pretty little thing,"_ Alastor smirked, " _is the lovely boy toy of Magnus Bane."_

Alec felt a twisted sort of emotion bubble up from the pit of his stomach. It was a cross between anger, hurt, and confusion. "Then you seem to be poorly informed," Alec said. Both warlock and demon looked at him, surprised that he had spoken up. "Magnus and I are no longer… involved." Alec choked out. He felt his eyes water with tears and he looked down, hating his emotions for betraying a sign of weakness.

Alastor laughed. " _That is no matter. You will still work as bait for that stupid warlock and your blood will also serve us well."_

"Do you seriously think I'm going to let you go ahead with Lucifer's bat shit insane scheme?" Asmund straightened himself to his full height and Alec suddenly felt very well aware of how utterly powerless he was against this 1800 year old warlock. "Go back to where you came from, demon. Don't let me catch you again or I will truly erase your existence from this life." Asmund raised his hand in the direction of Alastor and clenched his open hand into a fist. The green cage shone brightly for a moment before it collapsed within itself and disappeared from existence, taking the greater demon with it.

"Get up, shadowhunter."

Alec rose from his crouched position and turned to face incredible glowing green eyes. In his mind, he could almost see those pupils narrowing into feline slits and a much more beautiful face with yellow green eyes staring back at him.

"Um… thanks. I guess?" Alec mumbled and did a quick inventory of his weapons. The darkness around them was already beginning to dispel and Alec could start to see the dim glow of nearby streetlamps.

"Well?" Asmund crossed his arms expectantly.

Alec stared at him confused. "Well what?"

"Please don't tell me you're just a pretty face with nothing upstairs," Asmund groaned and dragged his large hand down his face.

Alec felt his face burn with anger. "I'll answer your damn question when you clarify what exactly it is you're expecting from me. In case you haven't noticed, I'm just a _Nephilim_ ; not some telepathic mind reader." He heaved a great breath in an attempt to calm his emotions. Alec was really at the end of his wits. Three weeks of being emotionally exhausted and then having to deal with… _this._ It was just too much. On top of everything, he was dealing with yet another warlock. Granted, this warlock was nothing like Magnus, but just the fact that they were the same species was enough to send Alec's already shattered heart another pang.

"You said you have a name." Asmund raised an eyebrow at the dark haired boy. "Usually most people would offer their name after making a statement like that."

"Alec. Alec Lightwood."

This earned him a second raised eyebrow. "Lightwood? Are you the brat of Maryse and Robert Lightwood? Alexander right?"

Alec knew he should feel more wary of this downworlder, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. He sighed and felt all his emotions leave him with a woosh. "Don't call me that. It's Alec." That name was something only Magnus called him. He hated it when anyone else said it. It always sounded like the name dripped with disappointment whenever he was addressed. It was only when Magnus called him Alexander that he felt like his name held some sort of warmth or positive connotation.

"What you want to be called does not change what your name actually is," Asmund gave him a shit eating grin. "And while this encounter was undoubtedly riveting, I do have pressing matters to attend." Turning his back on the younger man, Asmund began walking into the dissipating black mist.

"Oh, also one more thing," Asmund paused and looked over his shoulder at Alec. "Don't tell your little friends or the Clave about anything. You don't want to find out what will happen if you do."

And with that threat, he disappeared leaving Alec standing tired and covered in ichor in the middle of Central Park, a thousand questions swimming through his head.

"Alec? Alec!" He turned to see his sister running towards him with a frantic expression.

"Izzy? What's wrong?" Alec gasped and caught his sister by her shoulders as she collided into him and began squeezing the life out of him. She was wearing regular clothes which confused Alec. Weren't they just hunting demons?

"What's wrong? _What's wrong?"_ Isabelle's voice began rising in pitch as she grabbed the front of his shirt and shook him furiously. "You've been missing for 24 hours and you just randomly appear out of nowhere and you're asking me _what's wrong?!"_

Alec had half a mind to recognize that his sister was still screaming random things at him, half sobbing half hysterical, but he just couldn't wrap his mind around things. He had been missing for 24 hours? In that dark void with Asmund, he felt like it had hardly been twenty minutes.

"Alec! _Are you listening to me?_ I swear on the Angel that unless you start explaining things, I am going to pummel you so hard you'll wish you had never reappeared!" Grabbing Isabelle's hands, he gently pried loose her fingers and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair.

"Izzy. You need to calm down." Alec tried to ease his sister down from the temper she had worked herself up to by putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Calm down?!" She shrieked, her dark eyes flashing with barely contained hysteria. "One minute we're fighting demons and then the next you disappear into a cloud of black smoke! We had no idea where you went or what attacked you and we had to call Magnus to track you and you _want me to freaking calm down?_ "

Alec froze. "You called Magnus…?" Distantly, Alec wondered when he would be able to hear or say Magnus' name without feeling that sharp pain in his chest.

"Yes, she did." A smooth, velvety voice came from behind him and Alec closed his eyes willing this to be a dream. He had imagined so many times what he would say to the warlock the next time he had the chance to talk to him, but no amount of daydreaming could prepare him for this moment.

Alec turned slowly to face the person who had haunted his dreams ever since that fateful day in the subway.

Magnus had his arms crossed over a plain skin tight black shirt and equally body-hugging pair of sinful leather pants. Alec couldn't help but gape wordlessly at the love of his life and the dishevelled state he was in. Magnus' silky hair hung limp around his face and his cat eyes were narrowed seemingly annoyed.

"You have some explaining to do."

* * *

"So let me get this straight, the last thing you remember is fighting demons and the world suddenly becoming distorted and then you're back in Central Park?" Jace lounged with his right arm hung over the back of the couch while his left hand was twirling a dagger absently.

Alec winced and nodded. He refused to look up from his fists clenched in his lap.

"That's bullshit and you know it," Jace threw the dagger and it embedded itself in the wood next to Alec's foot.

"Alec, please," Clary said gently, "We're just worried about you." The petite redhead glanced around the room and met agreeing nods from everyone except for Magnus who was staring stonily at the wall.

Alec sighed and pressed the heel of his hand to this eyes. Why was he lying to his family anyways? _"Don't tell your little friends or the Clave about anything. You don't want to find out what will happen if you do."_ The eldest Lightwood growled internally. Damn that stupid warlock. Damn all warlocks in general.

"That's all there is to it, Jace." Alec mumbled tiredly and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. He was trying so hard not to look at Magnus because he just knew that his heart would shatter even more looking at that devastatingly beautiful man.

"Don't bullshit me, Alec. I'm your Parabatai. I know you better than you know yourself so why can't you just take that stupid pride of yours that's stopping you from telling us what really happened and shoving it up where that bullshit came out of?" If it wasn't for the rigidness of Jace's posture, Alec would have almost described his tone as conversational. Of course, anything with Jace was hardly conversational given that most of the time he was either trying to piss you off or find something to start an argument with.

Movement from the corner of his peripheral caught Alexander's eye and he looked up just in time to see Magnus stalk angrily towards the door.

"Magnus?" Clary's clear voice probed with a gentle question. Ever since Izzy had dissolved into a frantic mess and ran straight to Magnus' apartment, Clary had been wary of how she approached any of the room's occupants. Jace, who outwardly looked calm, was brimming with tension and the dangerous flashing of his eyes promised a bad time for whoever was next to irk him. When they had arrived at Magnus' apartment, they definitely did not expect to see the place in shambles - leftover Chinese takeout boxes strewn everywhere, the once vibrant curtains now a plain black and closed, empty bottles of various liquor tipped over haphazardly across the floor. Most alarmingly of all, the warlock they were looking for was lying slouched over his couch with his hair falling limp over his face completely unmoving.

For a moment the shadowhunters thought they would have to deal with a murder on top of their missing brother, but after some prodding and poking - and some poorly veiled hints of extreme violence from Isabelle's side - the warlock showed signs of life in the form of low groaning. Once he had gotten over his pounding headache, Magnus had promptly asked them to leave in a rather brusque fashion, unfitting of his usually sparkly and genial attitude.

Of course, the Lightwood sister was having none of this and yelled at him, "Don't you even care what happens to Alec? I thought you _loved_ him and you expect me to believe that after a measly three weeks your 'love' has just completely disappeared like it never existed in the first place?"

" _Don't you dare accuse my love for Alec as being trivial,_ " Magnus hissed, his cat eyes glowing ominously with barely restrained magic. "I loved him more than I have ever loved anyone else. He betrayed me and tried to shorten my life! I would have given everything for him but he didn't even have the decency to ask me before doing so abysmally stupid."

It was true. Magnus didn't understand just what had possessed his blue eyed lover to do something like this behind his back. He had tried so hard to convince Alec that he was his everything and that he loved him more than anything in the world. He had hoped that over time his words and gentle love would be enough to convince the Lightwood of his dedication. Immortal or not, Magnus would have spent the rest of Alec's life by his side even as he watched the younger boy grow old and frail.

"Then help us find him," Izzy challenged. "Track him down. People don't just up and disappear in black smoke everyday. What if he was taken by a Greater Demon? He could be dead by now with all this dallying around."

Magnus felt his heart give a painful wrench at the thought of Alec dying. Although the majority of him was holding stubbornly onto his pride and refusing to get involved with any business that may put him in proximity to Alexander, his heart cried mournfully for the dark haired boy. What if he was hurt somewhere? It was highly likely; after all, Magnus could not even being to count the number of times that Alec had stumbled back to his apartment covered in wounds that seemed to soak the entirety of his gear in blood. The warlock would put good money on the fact that he had seen more blood in his time with Alexander than he had seen over the past decade.

Without saying a word, Jace simply handed Magnus one of Alec's arrows that he had picked up from the battle. The two men looked at each other and Magnus knew that Jace was well aware the warlock would still do anything for Alec even though they were no longer together. Heaving a great sigh, Magnus took the arrow and walked towards his living room, waving his hand and clearing an area in the middle of his floor, he began to make preparations for the tracking spell.

It was only when the tracking spell combusted in a plume of foul smelling smoke that Magnus began to feel the panic set in. Something powerful was blocking his magic and there were few things in this realm that Magnus knew could rival or surpass his magical strength – none of them being very pleasant at all.

Failed attempt after attempt only served to heighten the sense of dread in them and finally, after the sun had risen and set once more, did one of Magnus' tracking spells finally work. Much to their surprise, it determined that Alec was still dead smack in the middle of Central Park where they had been fighting the previous night.

The rest, Clary thought to herself, passed in a whirlwind of relief and confusion leading them up to this point where she sat next to Alec with a hand on his shoulder, watching the warlock's retreating back.

"If Alexander still chooses to keep his secrets to himself, then I have no further business here." Magnus nearly spat, the hurt and anger evident in his voice. Clary could see his slender frame shaking with emotion and she felt her heart reach out to the warlock. With only a few long strides, she watched as the usually glitter-clad man exit the room and slam the door shut.

"Magnus…" Alec exhaled. Abruptly, he jumped up and rushed after the other man.

"Magnus, wait!" Rounding the corner, Alexander managed to catch him right as his hand reached for the front door. "Magnus!" the shadowhunter gripped the taller man's shoulder and tried to turn him around.

Alec was not prepared for the sight that greeted him. He barely recognized the warlock who held his heart – gone were the kohl rimmed eyes and spiked locks, replaced with dark heavy bags and limp strands veiling exhausted green gold eyes. For the first time since they had met, Alec felt like Magnus finally looked as old as he was. The normally slim frame was now hunched over in exhaustion and anger, his clothes clinging to his torso like a second skin, but only served to highlight just how much weight the man had lost in the past three weeks.

"Magnus…" Alec breathed, reaching a hand tentatively up to caress the face that haunted his dreams. "Magnus, please. I… I'm sorry. I don't want to make you angry, I just –"

"Stop it, Alexander." Alec froze mid stroke and looked hurt. Magnus closed his eyes and shook his head – he couldn't do this again. Not so soon. "I told you that I no longer wanted to be a part of your life and yet here I am running errands for your friends _again_." Grabbing the strong, calloused hand resting on his cheek with his own slender hand, Magnus allowed himself a moment of weakness and tried to memorize this feeling of warmth and closeness before gently removing it and stepping back.

It shouldn't have been possible for his heart to break more than it already was, but Alec clearly felt a pain equal to the soul-ripping agony that day in the subway all over again. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I swear on the Angel I wasn't trying to shorten your life," Alec rushed, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. Absently, Magnus couldn't help but marvel at how devastatingly _beautiful_ Alec was even when his face was contorted in anguish.

"I… I can't listen to this, Alec. It was hard enough for me to walk away from you that night. Please don't make this any harder than it already is." Magnus whispered brokenly and turned his back to his ex-lover.

"I just wanted to know about you," Alec gasped between soft sobs. "I swear I would never try to shorten your life without your consent. I just… I kept going back to Camille because she told me things about you that you wouldn't share with me." He clutched at the back of Magnus' shirt, not caring that he was probably stretching it out and staining it with his tears.

"I love you," Alec said quietly, barely loud enough for Magnus to hear. "I love you now and I will always love you."

Magnus tilted his head up in an attempt to stave off the tears that wanted to break free. Taking a deep breath he stomped down his emotions and filled his voice with as much coldness as he could, "we're over, Alec. It would do you well to stop disappearing so I wouldn't have to be dragged back into your life just to track you." Stepping forward, Magnus forced himself to keep looking forward. He pulled open and the door and paused before saying quietly, "I don't want to see you again. I'll be gone on business next week so you can come to the apartment to get your stuff and leave your key."

With that, Alec watched as the door clicked shut, shutting the lid on their relationship forever.

* * *

Alexander couldn't remember how he got to his room. He vaguely recalled collapsing in the foyer in a sobbing mess and then a pair of hands supporting him around his shoulders as they pulled him up.

For the second time in less than two days, Alec woke up again with a raging headache fueled by dehydration and an aching heart. The full moon was high in the sky and illuminated his room with an iridescent glow. Sitting up, Alec saw his bow and quiver – fully stocked, he noted – propped neatly against the dresser next to his bed. Jace must have collected his arrows for him since he wasn't able to. Robert Lightwood had drilled into his eldest son to always, _always_ collect his arrows after a battle. With seraph blades, you never ran the risk of rendering yourself weaponless unless you foolishly decided to leave your blade stuck in a demon. Archers had a totally different battle to deal with – they not only had to take into consideration the amount of ammunition they had left, but they also had to determine the most efficient use of their arrows so as to not leave them using only their second weapon of choice.

Of course after years of training with Jace, Alec was also a master of the seraph blade, but the weapon had never quite felt as right as holding a bow. Thus, it was with great relief that Alec counted out all 40 of his arrows. Letting his head fall back against his bed as he sat on the floor, Alexander Lightwood sighed and let his eyes fall shut.

"Really, now. Are all shadowhunters this oblivious? Or is that just you?" Alec gasped and jerked up, grabbing his bow and instinctively firing an arrow towards the direction of the voice.

Asmund emerged from the shadows and tsked, the arrow caught neatly between his middle and index finger. "Careful now, you wouldn't want to cause any unnecessary damage." Tossing the arrow back at Alec, the great warlock made himself at home and settled into a nearby armchair, conjuring up a glass of scotch.

"What are you doing here? How did you even get in?" Alec gaped, his wary eyes never leaving the figure lounging in the corner of his room. "This is holy ground. No downworlder can enter without permission."

Asmund chuckled and waved his hand dismissively, "you don't live to be my age without learning a few tricks here and there, pretty boy. There are few things in this world that can stop me from getting where I want." He eyed his drink contemplatively after taking a sip, before deciding that he wasn't in the mood for scotch and consequently banished it without a second thought.

"What do you want with me?" Asmund raised an eyebrow and gave Alec a once over, surprised by his defeated voice.

"You look like shit. No praise or amazement? No 'wow! Asmund you must be so powerful!' or something equally awesome?"

"Clearly 1800 years of living has not taught you how to be a decent person. If you're only here to insult me and fish for compliments then you can leave." Alec shot back, more irritated than anything. Given that he had seen first-hand just how terrifying the warlock could be, Alec figured that even if he was in top condition there would be no getting away from Asmund if he didn't want him to. As such, the Lightwood resigned himself to whatever fate the green eyed man had in store for him.

"Aw don't be like that," Asmund grinned, clearly having fun. "I'm actually here to make you a proposition!" Using his hands to push himself up, Asmund sauntered towards Alec who was now picking up stray articles of clothing scattered around the floor - might as well do some house cleaning to distract himself from annoying warlocks.

Handing Alec a holey sweater, Asmund smirked at the angry flush on the younger man's face. "I definitely can see the appeal. No wonder Magnus took a liking to you – that flush is quite attractive." He winked and laughed when Alec spluttered. "Anyways, as much as I'd _love_ to sit around and tease you until you faint from too much blood in your head, I do require your help."

"My help? What on earth do you need _my_ help for? Your 'tips and tricks' not working for you?"

"Oooh the shadowhunter has a bite!" Asmund cackled amused.

"I'll do more than bite you if you don't hurry up and say whatever it is that you came here to say." Alec said picking up a seraph dagger and twirling it threateningly.

Raising his hands in surrender, Asmund let his face soften into a genuine smile. "I want you to come help me hunt a demon."

Alec choked on a laugh. "You need my help to hunt a demon? You seemed to have taken care of that Greater Demon by yourself no problem. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the best shadowhunter. Jace would be a much better pick."

"Ah, but you see, you are more valuable in this situation than Jace will ever be." Asmund tittered. He made a grand sweep with his arm and Alec's room began to organize itself. Clearly the warlock was tired of Alec trying to distract himself with menial tasks.

Alec snorted, "oh really? And why might that be?"

"You just happen to be on this demon's 'top ten' hit list."

Alexander choked on his breath, " _excuse me?_ "

Asmund shot him a glare, silently telling him that he did not appreciate it when his audience did not listen. "That Greater Demon Alastor was after you earlier. Weren't you paying any attention? You're already a target for them and I figure it will be easier if I just take you with me so that they will come to me instead of hunting them down." He raised his hand in a shrug, "and I mean, I figure you would have motivation enough already…"

"What motivation would I have?" Alec asked. "I have literally nothing to do with this battle and some crazy servant of Lucifer is –" He stopped mid sentence and his mouth fell open in a small gape, realization dawning on him. "When you said you wanted to go hunt a demon… did you mean _Lucifer?"_

Above Asmund's head a large 'BINGO!' appeared written with crackling green electricity.

"No. Absolutely not. And you still haven't told me what motivation I would have to join you in this utterly insane mission."

Green eyes flashed and Alec felt a cold dread settle in his stomach at Asmund's next words.

"Lucifer wants to kill Magnus."

* * *

"Like _hell_ I'm going to let that demon lay a hand on Magnus," Alec hissed, absolutely livid. "I would sooner die than let him get close to Magnus."

"That's the spirit I'm looking for!" Asmund clapped and unfurled his wings, which up until now, had been held tight against his back. "So really, it's a win-win situation, no? You get to protect Magnus and I save myself a lot of tracking spells and wild goose chases."

"What does Lucifer want with Magnus? He's done nothing to him at all." Alec reasoned. Magnus wasn't exactly the type to go pissing off the Princes of Hell randomly. In fact, Alec was pretty confident that Magnus tried to stay as far away from demons as he could – minus the occasional summoning of a lesser demon for jobs, but that was beside the point. He told Alec once that it was because demons tended to leave ichor everywhere and that stuff burned through everything, including Magnus' prized clothes.

"Lucifer is getting bored. He's been sitting around in Hell for a good century without anything do to. From what I understand, he's just looking to stir up some trouble with Asmodeus to have some fun," Asmund shrugged.

From the confused look Alec was giving him, Asmund gathered that Magnus had definitely _not_ told the shadowhunter his family lineage. The warlock sighed, he hated being the messenger. "Asmodeus is Magnus' father."

" _What?"_ Alec's voice rose an octave. Quicker than Alec could blink, Asmund threw up a belated sound proofing spell for the room.

"Keep your voice down!" Asmund hissed. "I don't want your stupid siblings tagging along with us."

But Alexander wasn't listening anymore. Instead, he was slowly sinking to the floor, a hand on the bed post to support himself. Magnus' father was a prince of Hell? What else was Magnus hiding about his past? Would he have taken that secret with him beyond Alec's grave?

With a terrible pang of hurt, Alec mused that this was exactly why he had gone to Camille in the first place. He knew absolutely nothing about Magnus. Not even… _this._ This entirely relevant piece of information. How the hell was he supposed to deal with that?

 _Oh don't worry about it. After all, it's not like I'm a shadowhunter who hunts demons for a living and your father just happens to be one of the princes of hell, the greatest demons of all._

"Magnus is Asmodeus' favourite child," Asmund continued, "although that, by no means, suggests that Asmodeus wants to protect Magnus." Green eyes studied the blue eyed boy who was starting to gather his wits.

"Then… what does Asmodeus want?" Alec almost didn't want to hear the answer to his question.

"Same thing as Lucifer," Asmund said. "He wants to kill Magnus first. Asmodeus has had many children over the millennia and he has claimed every single one except for Magnus. Greater demons, more specifically the Princes of Hell, feed off the immortality of their warlock children. Each time they consume a warlock's life, they become exponentially more powerful."

"Then why does Lucifer need my blood? If that were the case, Magnus would be the only target here," Alec said. Suddenly Magnus' words from earlier came back to him, " _I don't want to see you again."_

"I would be a terrible bait since Magnus clearly doesn't want me to be a part of his life anymore," Alec whispered.

"Don't sell yourself short, pretty boy." Asmund lifted Alec's face with a slender finger. His emerald eyes glowed in the dim light of the moon and Alec felt his breath catch at the absolute seriousness of his gaze. "Magnus is more invested in you than you think."

"And in regards to why Lucifer needs your blood, that's relatively simple. He knows that if he kills Magnus first, Asmodeus will retaliate. Thus, he needs some sort of help in battle," Asmund said, "Lucifer is already stronger than Asmodeus, but he would be a fool to think even with that advantage he could win against an angry, vengeful Prince - anger exponentially increases a Greater Demon's power. So he wants to enchant his weapon with a spell to infuse it with Angel blood, making it especially effective against demons."

"As to why _your_ specific blood is needed, Alastor already explained most of it," the warlock stood up and walked towards the wall. "Magnus has left his mark on you from all those times he has healed you or used your energy. Your blood has recognized his signature and is more receptive to demonic magic. Essentially, your blood would be the most compatible with the highest probability of success for enchanting Lucifer's weapon."

Asmund stopped his little lecture and mumbled a couple words to conjure up a portal. Sure enough, a glowing purple portal opened up on Alec's wall. Turning to face Alexander, Asmund pinned him with a long, steady gaze.

"You can either come with me and have a chance at saving your precious lover, or you can stay here and watch as either Lucifer or Asmodeus eventually claim his life." He extended a hand for Alec to take, his eyes never wavering from crystal blue.

Alec stared at the slender hand like it was a foreign object. What choice did he have? There was no way that Alec would sit by quietly while Magnus' life was in danger. Not even if Magnus hated him and never wanted to see him again. Alec had meant every word in the entrance hall. He loved Magnus with every fibre of his being and he would continue to love him until his last breath. He would honor his love's last wish and stay out of his life, but it would be over his dead body that he would let Magnus get hurt.

Steeling himself, Alec quickly grabbed his gear, bow and quiver, and weapons belt.

Yes, his heart still ached and longed for Magnus, but he had a new resolve. Alexander Lightwood had a purpose and reason to surge forward. Pushing down the doubt and uncertainty of the moment, the dark haired shadowhunter took the outstretched hand and stepped forward.

Asmund grinned at the determination glowing from the boy's blue orbs. Abruptly, he yanked his hand back making Alec stumble against his chest.

"Good choice, little Nephilim," Asmund murmured into Alec's ear which flushed a bright red along with the rest of his face, "but before we go, how about a little redecoration?" Waving a hand, dark black flames began to engulf parts of Alec's room.

Before Alec had a chance to say anything, the tall warlock pulled them both through the portal and it disappeared into nothingness behind them.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope this was an acceptable chapter. I haven't written any fanfics in over 5 years and I am sorely out of practice. I won't have a regular updating schedule since being an adult is hard, but I do promise that I will try to write as often as possible!**

 **And don't worry, this is definitely a Malec fic. However the plot line I have decided on takes a lot of setting up. Hopefully by the next chapter there will be a lot more angst and Magnus.**

 **Feel free to leave a review, or drop a favourite/follow!**


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